Blue Grotto Capri Tour Review
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The Blue Grotto in Capri is one of the island's most famous attractions, but is it actually worth visiting? I spent three days exploring the island and here is my honest review of the experience.
What Is The Blue Grotto?
First off, let's provide a bit of context about the Blue Grotto and why so many people want to see it.
The Blue Grotto, or Grotta Azzurra, is a sea cave on Capri's coast. Under the right conditions, the entire cave lights up a magnificent bright blue and it provides a magical and romantic bucketlist-type of experience.
Visitors are allowed entry into the grotto on a small wooden rowboat but beware, it can be a little cramped. The cave mouth is only one meter high so you have to lay down in order to ensure safe entry.
A skipper helps you to navigate the experience and once you're in, it's supposedly an enchanting and otherworldly experience of floating in a blue ball of light while looking at the water sparkle against the silver cave walls.
Overview Of My Experience
Supposedly? What do you mean by supposedly?
In all honesty, I wasn't able to enter the grotto. The tour that my B&B booked took me to see all three grottos but because I visited in November, and the weather conditions were too dangerous and they didn't allow any rowboats in.
This is a pretty common occurrence if you're visiting off season (mid-October to April) so just keep that in mind when you're booking your trip. Even during high season, you have to check the weather reports and sea conditions to see if the waves and winds will allow for entry. If it's too difficult to navigate, they simply won't allow it.
That being said, I still really enjoyed the boat ride and loved that I got to see the Faraglioni rocks up close. The tour was still worth it in my mind, but I just wanted to give you a heads up and set clear expectations that you might not be allowed to enter (especially if you're only visiting for a day or two).
How To Get To The Blue Grotto
There are two ways to get to the Blue Grotto: by boat and by bus.
I had no ideas that you could access the cave by bus and thought that you had to book a tour but I'm glad I did because it gave me a different perspective of the island!
By Bus:
If you're only interested in visiting the Blue Grotto and don't mind skipping the rest of the boat ride, then you should DIY-it by bus!
Take the bus from Marina Grande or Capri to Anacapri and then transfer to a different bus to the Blue Grotto. If you're staying in Anacapri (like I did), you simply have to walk to the bus stop across from the piazza and buy tickets for the bus to Grotta Azzurra.
The route is operated by Staiano Autotrasporti (website here) and you can buy tickets online ahead of time, or from the ticket booth right at the station. A one-way ticket costs €2.40 but I would buy roundtrip tickets as sometimes they're fussy about taking cash.
The bus ride takes approximately 15 minutes and once you hop off, you'll follow everyone to a long line that snakes down a staircase to the rowboats waiting to take you in.
By Boat:
There are two ways to get to the Blue Grotto by boat. You can take the larger tourist boat or take a smaller private tour. (Neither option includes entrance tickets to the grotto.)
Both boats typically leave from Marina Grande but make sure to double check the details on your tickets beforehand. You can book directly at the port, through your accommodations, or online through a provider like Viator and GetYourGuide.
There are typically long lines to enter the grotto during high season (sometimes up to two hours!) so make sure to take that into consideration when booking your boat.
If you're visiting from neighboring cities like Naples, Sorrento, or Amalfi, it might be worth exploring day-trip tour options that go directly from that city.
Blue Grotto Tour Experience
Okay, so I guess this is somewhat of a misnomer because as I mentioned earlier, my experience was very much just a boat tour around Capri. It was still very beautiful and worth it, but just completely different from what you might expect.
Boarding At Marina Grande
My tour started bright and early at Marina Grande. Because the B&B owner organized it for me, it was a little less formal and they just told me where to meet them for the pick-up.
If you've booked a tour through something like Viator, they'll give you specific instructions on where to meet and how you can redeem the voucher.
I boarded a mid-sized boat and essentially had a private tour for myself!
Capri's Cliffs
The tour began with us speeding away from the pier for the first 15 minutes or so.
The captain gave us a brief overview of different landmarks and caves as we passed them, but didn't really explore them in depth. There were some long bouts of silence as we traversed the seas and honestly I was fine with it as it gave me some time to slow down and actually reflect on my experience.
Capri's cliffs are some of the island's most famous features. They're primarily made of limestone and sandstone and drop steeply towards the sea.
The more I travel, the more I realize how much the land actually impacts our experience.
As someone who loves the outdoors and has to be keenly aware of my surroundings while navigating new cities and trails, I've come to really appreciate natural formations and geography.
Therefore, weirdly enough, one of my favorite things on this tour was seeing Capri's actual geographical formations from a distance!
As someone who spends a lot of time on the reefy shores of Taiwan, the sudden drop-off of cliffs to the sea just really took my breath away. It was so different from what I had gotten accustomed to and helped me appreciate just how vastly different this earth is sometimes.
Visiting The Blue Grotto
Our first major stop on the tour was the Blue Grotto. The water conditions weren't great that day so we weren't able to enter. To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was looking at but it sure was blue!
It was a disappointment for sure, but I think just being out on the blue seas, basking in the sunlight, and having the ocean winds sweep through my hair kind of made up for it.
For those who are lucky enough to visit the Blue Grotto during ideal conditions, here are some tips to keep in mind:
Sunlight is strongest between 12pm - 2pm so if you want to witness the reflections at their best, aim to visit then. Depending on the season, I'd strive to arrive a little earlier because the wait times can be pretty long...
For those that want to skip the lines, plan your experience for early morning or after 3pm. Just note that if the skies are overcast, you probably won't see much. Additionally, the ocean tends to swell in the afternoon and if it gets too rough, they might close the cave early.
Blue Grotto tickets are never included in any tour. They're €18 and must be paid for in cash at the entrance.
I've had a few friends visit during high season and tell me that it wasn't worth it because they had to wait a long time and then only got to experience the grotto for five minutes. Some of them have also had negative experiences with pushy skippers that demanded additional tip or fees.
These are all typical warnings that you see with tourist attractions, but I figured I'd bring them up so that you're completely aware of what you're signing up for.
In my opinion, it's probably best to assume that you won't see the grotto and accept that your experience will just be a boat tour of the island. If you're really set on seeing the grotto, buy a flexible ticket like one from Motoscafisti Capri that you can use on an alternate date in case it's closed.
Stopping By The White Grotto
After the Blue Grotto, we continued in a counterclockwise fashion towards the lighthouse, past the Green Grotto, and then to the White Grotto.
The White Grotto was really cool! You could see just how stunning it was even from a distance and it was definitely one of the highlights from this tour.
Breezing Through The Faraglioni Rocks
Another highlight from my tour was sailing through the Faraglioni Rocks!
These towering sea stacks are some of the island's most famous landmarks and I loved seeing them up close. It was just like the postcards but on a completely different scale
There's also a sweet saying that if a couple kisses while passing through the arch, they'll stay together forever. Although I did this trip solo, I could definitely imagine dragging my partner here for a corny kiss moment.
After the Faraglioni rocks, we looped back to the marina. The whole ride took about an hour but if the Blue Grotto were open, we probably would've stayed longer.
Swimming At the Blue Grotto
Swimming is not allowed at the Blue Grotto.
A lot of people will wait until after 5:30pm when the cave officially closes to try and sneak in, but this is illegal and dangerous. The waves can be unpredictable and huge swells can slam swimmers into the cave walls.
Additionally, as the tide rises, the amount of space within the cavern decreases. This again is potentially dangerous, so it's best to just stick to designated and well-populated swimming areas (like the Bagni Tiberio or Marina Piccola).
Honest Thoughts & Opinions
All in all, despite not getting to enter, I had a good experience of my Blue Grotto tour.
It ended up being more of a boat tour around Capri and although I wish there were a little bit more transparency and warning about whether or not the grotto is open on the day of the experience, I do think that it was still nice to be able to see the island (and its geography) from the sea.
If you’re only interested in the Blue Grotto and that's the sole intention of your tour, then you should consider visiting by land. Take the bus and wait in line. It'll save you time and eliminate most of the waiting.
However, if you're looking to explore more, I'd recommend booking a tour and setting the expectation that it's just going to be a "Capri by sea" boat tour. Ocean conditions are hard to predict so rather than hoping that you'll be able to enter the grotto, it's best to take entry to the Blue Grotto as a bonus on top of that.
Things To Do In Capri Afterwards
While I personally really enjoyed the tour, I can see how you might want to skip it if you're spending less time on the island.
If you only have a day or two on Capri, I would probably prioritize other activities like hiking the Scala Fenicia, exploring Monte Solaro by chairlift, or even taking a cooking class by the sea.
For a full agenda on how to structure your Capri adventures, I've created a 3-day slow travel itinerary!
Once you're done with Capri, head on over to Naples to explore Italy's third-largest city (and don't worry, it's perfectly safe) or continue on your coastal adventures with a boat ride to Sorrento!
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